Apple's iPad Isn't Ready For Business Work

iWork, Apple's office suite for the iPad won't cut it for serious
work, say the nice people at Ars Technica
in a detailed review.

This is important because while the iPad's appeal as a consumer
device -- to surf the web, play games and watch movies -- is
obvious, its appeal as a business device is less clear -- though
intriguing.

For example, many people have been waiting for almost a decade
for tablet computers to modernize hospitals and the way
healthcare is delivered.

More generally, many people who travel often for work --
salespeople, consultants, etc. -- are burdened with heavy, bulky
laptops and would presumably love to replace these with a light,
sleek tablet.

So if business applications on the iPad could be shown to be
really useful and productive, the iPad could potentially gain big
marketshare in business users and not just consumers.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. According to Ars
Technica, the only really usable app is Keynote (for
presentations), given that the object and dragging-oriented
nature of making a presentation lends itself well to using a
touchscreen. Pages (word processing) and Numbers (spreadsheet)
apps are pretty much useless for anything other than basic tasks.